-Deccan Herald
Rights activists led by Aruna Roy on Monday demanded that the proposed Whistleblowers Protection Bill and the Grievance Redressal Bill be made more stringent.
At a public debate involving intellectuals and MPs, the activists suggested that both the Bills, pending in Parliament, should be amended.
The Whistleblowers Bill has been passed by Lok Sabha and is awaiting Rajya Sabha nod, while the Grievance Redressal Bill is still in Lok Sabha.
National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) suggested setting up a designated authority at the district level with territorial jurisdiction over all public servants or public authorities within the district and giving territorial jurisdiction to the state and Central Public Grievance Redressal Commissions.
State Commissions should have jurisdiction over all the employees in the state and the Central Commission over all the employees in centrally administered areas.
The NCPRI demanded expanding the scope of whistleblowing to cover actions which have an impact on society, including environmental destruction, threats to public safety or health, unjust, discriminatory acts and violations of human rights.
They also demanded stringent provisions for protecting the identity of whistleblowers, deletion of time limit of seven years for taking cognisance of a case, no fine for frivolous disclosures and action on anonymous complaints with sufficient evidence.
Political scientist Kamal Chenoy criticised the clause prohibiting disclosure of information related to national security, national interest and public order. Excesses committed under laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) cannot be investigated due to this provision,” he said.